Shock Advised (Kilgore Fire #1)

by Lani Lynn Vale

  “Light’s green!” I yelled.

  Neither man moved.

  “Cop’s on our ass,” Sam said without turning his head at all.

  Tai glanced into his rear view mirror.

  “Do you think he wants to race?” Tai asked.

  Sam grinned.

  “Let’s go a little way up to the donut shop before we stop,” Sam suggested.

  Tai grinned.

  “10-4.”

  Then we were off again, and I was covering my face with my hands as we did.

  We did, in fact, pull over into the donut shop. However, no lights ever turned on.

  Tai pulled into the parking lot first, followed by Sam, who still had a huge shit eating grin on his face.

  The cop’s new SUV, a vehicle the city had recently starting replacing all of their cars with, pulled up in front of Tai and shut his car off.

  Tai followed suit, followed shortly by Sam.

  The silence was deafening.

  A broad shouldered man with red hair stepped out of the car, one foot and then the other crunching on the gravel beneath his feet.

  His face was hard and blank as he looked first at Sam, then at Tai.

  “License and registration,” the cop said.

  Tai crossed his arms over his chest.

  Sam shook his head.

  The red-headed cop placed both hands on his hips, the right one moving closer to his gun, and my heart started to pound a little faster in my chest.

  I slapped Tai across the leg, and he grunted at me.

  He still didn’t hand over his license, and I started to hyperventilate.

  The cop, a red-haired, Scottish-warlord lookalike, reached for his radio.

  “Dispatch, this is Unit two. I’ve got a 10-10 in progress,” the officer said into his mic at his shoulder.

  “10-4,” I heard through the man’s mic, as well as Tai’s radio under the dash.

  Tai’s breath caught.

  The officer turned to study me.

  Then he grinned.

  “Alright, boys. Who wants to explain why we had to field calls about the two of y’all drag racing? Normally, it’s the high school boys and girls we have to worry about. Not grown ass adults,” the cop asked.

  Tai got out of the truck and Sam dismounted, the three of them crowding around my window as they spoke, but none of them acknowledging me.

  “It was an accident, officer,” Sam said unconvincingly.

  The officer grunted in reply.

  “So where y’all headed?” The officer asked, leaning against my door just past the mirror, giving me a very clear view of him.

  My heart picked up for a different reason this time.

  Mainly because I was within touching distance of three insanely hot men.

  And I knew I had their attention, even though none of them were directly speaking to me.

  “The Back Porch,” both Sam and Tai said at the same time.

  “What’s going on there?” The red headed officer asked, reaching into his pocket for something and pulling it out.

  It was gum.

  The kind that kids ate with the fruity zebra looking dude on it.

  “Want some? I’m Downy, a friend of Tai’s” he asked, offering me a stick.

  I hesitantly reached my hand forward and took a piece.

  “T-thank you,” I said.

  He winked.

  “There’s a live band. Max was dared to sing, and some of the boys from the band offered to play as his backup,” Sam explained.

  I blinked.

  “You’re shitting me,” Downy said. “How’d you get him to do that?”

  “Wasn’t me. It was actually Lennox, Bennett’s wife,” Tai explained.

  Who was Lennox? Or Bennett?

  “Who’s Bennett?” I asked curiously.

  “Bennett’s a KPD cop. He’s the brother of Payton, Max’s wife,” Sam explained.

  That was clear as mud.

  “And what’s the significance to him singing?” I asked.

  Thirty minutes later I was in awe.

  Downy, the officer I was introduced to finally, was sitting on a stool beside me with his back against the bar.

  Tai was sitting on the opposite side with his arm along my back.

  I was valiantly trying to resist the urge to lean into Tai.

  I wanted nothing more than to have his arm around me, but I didn’t let myself do it.

  It was like I was in high school all over again, as I tried to sneak covert glances at Tai, as well as trying to smell him and strike up conversations with him.

  It didn’t work out so well for me.

  The bar was too dark, so I couldn’t see much of him. It smelled like beer and liquor because a waitress had spilled her entire tray of drinks in front of Tai, Downy and Sam.

  Then she’d proceeded to bend over in front of them, showing off her cute little ass, as she cleaned up the mess.

  I’d just rolled my eyes.

  If only she knew that none of the men even acknowledged her blatant come-ons.

  I had struck out, three for three, seeing as it was too loud in the bar to hear myself chew, let alone hold a coherent conversation.

  But what made up for it was the sexy beast on the stage.

  He had short blondish brown hair and a scar on the side of his face that probably really hurt when he got it.

  His voice, though, was what held everyone’s attention.

  The sheer and utter beauty of his voice had everyone entranced as they listened to him sing Johnny Cash.

  When he slipped into a perfect rendition of The Dance by Garth Brooks, I nearly melted into a puddle of goo like the rest of the ladies in the bar.

  “Geez,” I said, my throat starting to clog up.

  My thoughts strayed to Colt.

  When my emotions started to pull me under, Tai’s arm wrapped around my shoulders and pulled me toward him.

  My butt came off the stool, and I let my feet slide to the ground.

  Then, suddenly, Tai had his arms around me and I was breathing in his scent like I’d wanted to do all night long.

  He rested his badly-in-need-of-a-shave face against my forehead and started to sing right along with Max.

  Then again, everyone was singing with him.

  Garth Brooks was likely the only singer that everyone knew all the words to, so it was inevitable.

  “Want a drink?” Tai asked, sensing my need to be distracted.

  “No, I’m finished drinking. I haven’t had this much to drink since I was a freshman in college,” I laughed.

  “Oh, boy. We’ll have to fix that,” Tai teased.

  His chest rumbled with his words, and I had to bite my lip to keep the moan from slipping out past my lips.

  “How was your dinner?” He persisted.

  A smile lifted up the corner of my lips. “I’m stuffed. I think that they purposefully give you too much food so you won’t be able to leave for a while in fear of ripping your pants.”

  He looked down at my pants with a raised brow, and I giggled.

  I was still in my hospital scrubs.

  Normally, I wouldn’t wear them out like this.

  There were a lot of things that got on a nurse’s scrubs during the day, bodily fluids being one of them. However, when Tai had come to tell me about my mom, I’d only been at work for less than two hours. It hadn’t had time to get too badly soiled.

  “They’re not stretchy, if that’s what you’re thinking. They’re fitted,” I said defensively with a narrowing of my eyes.

  He chuckled, and I felt the rumble of his chest against mine.

  “You ready to go?” He asked. “I know you have to be tired.”

  I closed my eyes and thought about that.

  Was I tired?

  Yes.

  Did I want to go?

  Yes.

  Did I want him to leave me?

  No.

  And that was exactly what would happen if I said that yes, I was ready to
go.

  “No. Not yet,” I said instead of the truth.

  This was the most normal I’d felt in ages, and I didn’t want him to let me go.

  He did, though, thirty minutes later as the last call was announced over the bar’s speakers.

  “Let’s go, pretty girl,” Tai ordered, standing me up from where I’d been leaning against his chest for the last 30 minutes.

  We walked out with the same group that we’d arrived with.

  Although Sam had acquired a drop-dead, gorgeous blonde woman who was apparently his wife.

  She was wrapped around Sam’s chest, laughing into his side as Sam spoke about something obviously very funny to the woman.

  Downy was on his phone talking to who I assumed was his wife since he was talking about his ‘shit head kids’ to nearly the entire bar.

  Tai was silent at my side, his arms down by his own sides as he walked.

  I missed his body heat.

  I wrapped my hands around my chest and looked down at the gravel beneath my feet as my Crocs dug into the loose rocks.

  They made crunchy squish sounds as I walked…right into Tai.

  “Shit!” I cried, startled.

  I looked up at his face to see him staring at a man across the parking lot that was leaning against his truck.

  The man was making out with a woman who he had pressed against the gleaming red paint.

  “What. The. Fuck.”

  It was then I saw the man had his hands up the woman’s skirt, and he was furiously working his digits.

  “Wow,” I said. “Classy much?”

  “Slutty, if you ask me,” Tai grumbled, walking forward until he stopped at the passenger side door.

  He opened it up and helped me in, like he’d done each time I’d gotten in, and slammed it shut.

  When the couple still didn’t move, he got into his side, then started the motor.

  He revved it up for good measure, rocking the truck as he’d done earlier in the night.

  I laughed out loud when I saw the couple scream and scramble away from the truck.

  It really was that loud.

  And we’d gathered the attention of Sam, his wife, and Downy, as they, too, laughed.

  The man that was using Tai’s truck as an object to screw his woman against, glared at Tai. It was a promise that some sort of retribution would be served.

  “Do you know him?” I asked once he pulled out of his parking spot.

  “Yeah. Know the woman better, though,” he answered evasively.

  “Oh?” I asked. “How?”

  “Used to date her,” he mumbled, his voice sounding clipped.

  “Oh,” I said.

  That made sense.

  I realized he wasn’t a monk. I also realized that he was an incredibly good-looking man. It wasn’t surprising that he would be able to get a woman that was that pretty.

  And, boy, had that woman been pretty.

  Slutty, yes, but still pretty.

  Then again, if Tai had been doing that to me, I don’t know that I would’ve cared where we’d have done it, either.

  Instead of dropping me off at home, he drove to the parking lot where I’d left my car and pulled up directly behind it.

  I was disappointed.

  Him dropping me at my car meant he really was just dropping me off. If he’d dropped me off at my house, it would have meant that I’d been carless, and then he might feel responsible in getting me to my car in the morning, or later in the day, seeing as it was now nearly three in the morning.

  I opened the door and slid out of the truck, my feet landing on the asphalt with a soft crunch.

  I turned around to look up at Tai, seeing him smiling down at me from inside the truck.

  “Hope you had a good night,” he said. “Let me know if you or your mom needs anything, okay?”

  I nodded, wondering what’d caused the huge change in his demeanor from the man in the bar that allowed me to lean against him, to this man, the one that was distant and acted like he didn’t really want to be anywhere near me anymore.

  “Sounds good,” I lied as I forced a smile at him and slammed his truck door closed.

  I was nearly to my car when I heard his truck door open up.

  I hurried faster, clicking the unlock buttons on my car door and dropped inside.

  Well…almost.

  Tai caught me by the arm before I could fully descend and pulled me back up.

  “Ack,” I said, turning to look at him.

  His beautiful green eyes stared down into mine, boring straight into my soul.

  Leaning into me so close that the only thing that separated us was our clothes.

  He was hard…everywhere.

  “Come to dinner with me tomorrow night at Jack’s?” He asked.

  I swallowed.

  “I can do that,” I said breathlessly.

  He grinned and stepped back, and I felt the loss of body heat like a physical blow.

  “Be careful,” he said.

  I dropped into my car, looked up at his face, then started it up.

  Tai closed my door, and I refused to look into my rearview mirror until I was far enough away that he wouldn’t know I was looking.

  But he was already gone.

  Chapter 8

  You’re a bitch. Your face is probably ugly, and you suck.

  -Mia’s secret thoughts to bitchy customer service reps

  Mia

  “Come on, come on,” I said. “What’s taking so long?”

  “Ma’am,” the secretary said through obviously clenched teeth. “I’ve already told you, we’re waiting for the home warranty company to get back to us. We can’t move forward until we get the precise amount that we’re allowed to spend.”

  “My warranty place said they faxed the paperwork over this morning,” I explained.

  The woman sighed.

  “So now I’m sure you’re going to pull the ‘my son’s an infant and needs air’ card, aren’t you? I bet you don’t even have a son,” the vile woman said. “Not to mention it’s seventy-five degrees out. I’m sure it’s not even hot in your house. Just open a window, and I’ll get back to you as soon as I know.”

  My eyes nearly crossed.

  Closing my eyes, I tried to compose myself.

  It didn’t work.

  “Just as an FYI,” I said. “My son died two months ago. So no, I don’t have to worry about him being hot anymore,” my voice broke. “But thank you for reminding me of that. I appreciate it.”

  “Well, that’s unfortunate,” the woman said. “But I still don’t have the answer you need yet. Give me a few more days.”

  I calmly hung the phone up, barely letting my finger hover over the red ‘end’ button.

  Then I gasped for air.

  “Who was that you were talking to?” Tai’s calm voice said from behind me.

  I jumped, startled.

  Whipping around, I stared at Tai.

  He was every bit as easy going as he’d looked the day before… as long as you didn’t look at his eyes.

  I looked down at the clock, noting the time, and winced.

  I’d been on hold or talking to that vile woman for over an hour and a half.

  Which was the norm for me every time I called that woman lately…but still…I was in my fucking underwear for crying out loud.

  “Oh!” I said, jumping up and turning the computer chair so the back was concealing my near nakedness. “It was someone from an air conditioning company.”

  He scowled deeply.

  “What company?” He asked.

  Alarm bells started to go off in my brain.

  “Jenner’s Heating and Air,” I said. “Why?”

  He shook his head. “Nothing…I can see that you’re not ready… are you going to take much longer or do I need to come back?”

  I shook my head and came out from behind my chair, forgetting, once again, that I was nearly naked.

  His eyes automatically lowered to my expo
sed thighs, and he had the decency to look away.

  “Sorry for just barging in,” he said. “But I heard you raise your voice, and I came in thinking something was wrong.”

  Something was wrong. With my heart and my belly.

  When he looked at me, he had the ability to make my heart skip beats and race.

  I bit my lip and pointed at the couch.

  “Have a seat. I’ll go get changed, and we can go. It won’t take me more than ten minutes, tops,” I promised.

  He looked at me skeptically, purposefully keeping his eyes on my face rather than straying down.

  “I’ll believe that when I see it,” he declared.

  I stopped and turned until I was more fully facing him.

  “You don’t think I can get ready in ten minutes?” I asked in surprise.

  He shook his head.

  “No woman I know is ever anywhere near the time she estimates she’ll be. But I’ll sit and wait like a good little boy,” he teased.

  I narrowed my eyes.

  “Put a timer on,” I said, pointing at him.

  He raised a brow, but called my bluff as he pulled his phone out and pulled up the timer app.

  “Go.”

  I went.

  Seven and a half minutes later I was exiting my room with my shoes in my hand and my socks half way on.

  He looked at me in surprise, then looked down at his phone.

  “Impressive,” he said.

  I grinned.

  “I’m a mom…was a mom.” I corrected. “I haven’t gone full out for a very long time. What you see is what you get,” I teased.

  He frowned.

  “You’ll always be a mom, honey,” he said softly.

  My throat started to tighten.

  “I know…thank you. It’s just…easier if I say I was a mom. Then they don’t ask questions about my son…it’s just easier,” I rambled, repeating it over and over again hoping that he would understand what I was trying to say.

  “My sister was pregnant when she died,” he said softly.

  I blinked and halted with one shoe on, and one shoe off.

  “What?” I asked.

  He nodded.

  “She was pregnant. About six weeks or so…,” he said softly. “She’d have been such a good mom.”

  I frowned.

  “I wish I would’ve met her. Seems like you loved her a whole lot.”

  “I did,” he confirmed. “You ready?”

  I slipped on the other shoe in silence, picked up a present that’d been sitting on my desk for over a month, and walked to the door.